Special input from Ukraine and HungaryStockholm: 1stNordic FireSalutesEast Europeans

Stockholm -- The first Nordic Fire on Eastern European Rainbow Barricades festival took place in the Swedish capital November 25-27, 2011 with invited guests from Ukraine and Hungary as well as presentations on LGBT situations in Belgrade, Minsk, Riga, Helsinki and Bucharest.

"We are fighting against the same law proposal against positive information about homosexuality now spreading to more Russian provinces," says Olena Shevchenko of the women's organization, Insight - Kiev, new ILGCN (international rainbow cultural network) cultural ambassador from Ukraine.

Folk and classic music, song, and dance was provided at several of the festival venues by Tamás Lovas, Károly Varga and Sándor Fehér of the Continuo Trio of Budapest, the ILGCN cltural ambassadors of Hungary. "We are working with LGBT groups in St. Petersburg and in the Balkans, and hope more Helsinki Human Rights Committees in other countries will join us in work with LGBT human rights," says Peter Öholm of Civil Rights Defenders (formally the Swedish Helsinki Human Rights Committee).

Tupilak and ILGCN awards for Swede, Poles

At the Nordic Fire session at the CRD offices in the Stockholm Gamla Stan island, Swedish Liberal Party parliamentarian Barbro Westerholm received the annual Tupilak "Bifrost" awards honoring heterosexual bridge-builders uniting the LGBT and the heterosexual communities both in Sweden and abroad.

The Polish Institute - Stockholm received the annual ILGCN "Rainbow Iceberg" award for promoting Polish and Swedish LGBT cultural exchange and for bringing Polish LGBT women and men to different Swedish Pride events and for promoting Polish and international art exhibitions and publications.

"Thanks for this fine award. This appreciation for our work with this fanatic and moving motivation really means a lot to us," says Michal Piotrowski, project leader at the Polish Institute.

Also at the CRD, Bill Schiller described the long history of Tupilak & ILGCN involvement with Eastern European colleagues and the emphasis on mutual exchange. "We were very impressed with the mutual interaction of LGBT groups in the Ukraine and Belarus with our Swedish groups," says Schiller over the recent 3-nation meetings in Kiev and Minsk made possible with support from the Swedish Institute -- the official body promoting international co-operation.

RFSL chairperson Ulrika Westerlund also described the national Swedish LGBT organization's extensive international work with the Baltic states, Uganda and elsewhere, "The situation in Latvia is hardly easy and even those few open LGBT activists don't get much support from often very critical LGBT colleagues," says Kjell Rindar, former RFSL chairman and teacher at Latvian universities.

"We are very happy to have had the financial support of ROHS (Swedish national LGBT solidarity organization) to make this min-festival "between" Stockholm Prides possible," says Bill Schiller, international secretary of Tupilak (Nordic rainbows cultural workers) and secretary general of the ILGCN's Information Secretariat in Stockholm.

Alexander L. described the turbulent situation and extensive homophobia Serbian. (Belgrade is to be the site of one of the stages of next year's ILGCN world conference, along with Rio de Janeiro and the Crimean town of Seimiz.) while Finnish photographer Jussi Jässkeläinen described his work with Bucharest and Helsinki Prides.

Films, Music, Photography, Discussions at Posithivagruppen

"We are pleased to have another Tupilak event at our premises," states Ola Ståhle of the Posithivagruppen (HIV positive men having sex with men) office, and we are happy to have colleagues from the Baltic states at our summer camps and hope to join in future Tupilak and ILGCN exchanges in Eastern Europe."

Films by Swedish Tupilak member Willi Reichhold described the recent Swedish-Ukrainian-Belarus solidarity visit to Kiev, the summer inauguration ceremony in Visby of the first Nordic LGBT monument on the shoreline of the Swedish Baltic island of Gotland and the "Global Survival" journey of plants and human beings in harsh conditions around the world.

Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic and Eastern European works from the Tupilak & ILGCN Travelling Art& Photography Exhibition were displayed at all the festival venuesincluding new photo series from Belarus andthe Ukraine, and LGBT CD music from Poland and the Nordic nations were played at festival venues as well.

Other foreign visitors taking part in discussions at the CRD office, the Bio Rio, Posithivagruppen and the LGBT cultural center Hallongrottan came from Norway, Finland, Kenya and Somalia.

Next stop: Estonia, Russia, Belarus

"We hope the next Nordic Fire festival in Stockholm at the end of next March will focus on Swedish and Nordic LGBT co-operation with Estonia, Russia and Belarus," concludes Bill Schiller. "Once again we'll ask our Tupilak colleagues and the national LGBT organizations in the Nordic region to join us. We hope the Nordic Fire festival can be duplicated elsewhere in the Nordic region -- and we'll discuss this at coming Nordic-Baltic-Polish-Russian-Belarus Rainbow Network meetings coming up in Stockholm and other Nordic capitals during 2012."

Stockholm -- The first Nordic Fire on Eastern European Rainbow Barricades festival took place in the Swedish capital November 25-27, 2011 with invited guests from Ukraine and Hungary as well as presentations on LGBT situations in Belgrade, Minsk, Riga, Helsinki and Bucharest.

"We are fighting against the same law proposal against positive information about homosexuality now spreading to more Russian provinces," says Olena Shevchenko of the women's organization, Insight - Kiev, new ILGCN (international rainbow cultural network) cultural ambassador from Ukraine.

Folk and classic music, song, and dance was provided at several of the festival venues by Tamás Lovas, Károly Varga and Sándor Fehér of the Continuo Trio of Budapest, the ILGCN cltural ambassadors of Hungary.

"We are working with LGBT groups in St. Petersburg and in the Balkans, and hope more Helsinki Human Rights Committees in other countries will join us in work with LGBT human rights," says Peter Öholm of Civil Rights Defenders (formally the Swedish Helsinki Human Rights Committee).

Tupilak and ILGCN awards for Swede, Poles

At the Nordic Fire session at the CRD offices in the Stockholm Gamla Stan island, Swedish Liberal Party parliamentarian Barbro Westerholm received the annual Tupilak "Bifrost" awards honoring heterosexual bridge-builders uniting the LGBT and the heterosexual communities both in Sweden and abroad.

The Polish Institute - Stockholm received the annual ILGCN "rainbow iceberg" award for promoting Polish and Swedish LGBT cultural exchange and for bringing Polish LGBT women and men to different Swedish Pride events and for promoting Polish and international art exhibitions and publications.

"Thanks for this fine award. This appreciation for our work with this fanatic and moving motivation really means a lot to us," says Michal Piotrowski, project leader at the Polish Institute.

Also at the CRD, Bill Schiller described the long history of Tupilak & ILGCN involvement with Eastern European colleagues and the emphasis on mutual exchange. "We were very impressed with the mutual interaction of LGBT groups in the Ukraine and Belarus with our Swedish groups," says Schiller over the recent 3-nation meetings in Kiev and Minsk made possible with support from the Swedish Institute -- the official body promoting international co-operation.

RFSL chairperson Ulrika Westerlund also described the national Swedish LGBT organization's extensive international work with the Baltic states, Uganda and elsewhere, "The situation in Latvia is hardly easy and even those few open LGBT activists don't get much support from often very critical LGBT colleagues," says Kjell Rindar, former RFSL chairman and teacher at Latvian universities.

"We are very happy to have had the financial support of ROHS (Swedish national LGBT solidarity organization) to make this min-festival "between" Stockholm Prides possible," says Bill Schiller, international secretary of Tupilak (Nordic rainbows cultural workers) and secretary general of the ILGCN's Information Secretariat in Stockholm.

Alexander L. described the turbulent situation and extensive homophobia Serbian. (Belgrade is to be the site of one of the stages of next year's ILGCN world conference, along with Rio de Janeiro and the Crimean town of Seimiz.) while Finnish photographer Jussi Jässkeläinen described his work with Bucharest and Helsinki Prides. Films, Music, Photography, Discussions at Posithivagruppen "We are pleased to have another Tupilak event at our premises," states Ola Ståhle of the Posithivagruppen (HIV positive men having sex with men) office, and we are happy to have colleagues from the Baltic states at our summer camps and hope to join in future Tupilak and ILGCN exchanges in Eastern Europe."

Films by Swedish Tupilak member Willi Reichhold described the recent Swedish-Ukrainian-Belarus solidarity visit to Kiev, the summer inauguration ceremony in Visby of the first Nordic LGBT monument on the shoreline of the Swedish Baltic island of Gotland and the "global survival" journey of plants and human beings in harsh conditions around the world.

Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic and Eastern European works from the Tupilak &ILGCN Travelling Art & Photography Exhibition were displayed at all the festival venues, including new photo series from Belarus and the Ukraine, and LGBT CD music from Poland and the Nordic nations were played at festival venues as well.

Other foreign visitors taking part in discussions at the CRD office, the BioRio, Posithivagruppen and the LGBT cultural center Hallongrottan came from Norway, Finland, Kenya and Somalia.

Next stop: Estonia, Russia, Belarus

"We hope the next Nordic Fire festival in Stockholm at the end of next March will focus on Swedish and Nordic LGBT co-operation with Estonia, Russia and Belarus," concludes Bill Schiller. "Once again we'll ask our Tupilak colleagues and the national LGBT organizations in the Nordic region to join us. We hope the Nordic Fire festival can be duplicated elsewhere in the Nordic region -- and we'll discuss this at coming Nordic-Baltic-Polish-Russian-Belarus Rainbow Network meetings coming up in Stockholm and other Nordic capitals during 2012."

onsdag 16 november 2011

Some of you are new members, some of you have been members or supporters of Tupilak for a long time.

As the new chair person I want to say hello and invite you to the up-coming event Nordic Fire on Eastern European Rainbow Barricades - a mini festival between Prides on LGBT rights, identity and culture. 25-27/11- 2011 in Stockholm, Sweden. The program is attached as a pdf-file.

For those of you who can't make it to the festival, please keep giving your support to Tupilak by spreading the word or continue to be a member.

Belarus Pride press conference 2011—the 2nd stage in the 3-nation project following a similar meeting in Kiev in October – also Minsk supported by the Swedish Institute, the official body promoting Swedish international exchange and co- operation.

"We were very pleased to have had this international input into our Belarus Pride,” says Natasha P. of the GayBelarus organization. “And to have once again Swedes joining us in Minsk!”

Despite the ban on any Pride parade, Belarus and foreign LGBT visitors “outwalked” any potential homophobic followers through numerous city streets in different groups, jumped into vehicles and re-appeared in a distant suburb – unfurling rainbow flags, marching a short stretch in the streets and cheering the release of a giant rainbow banner carried to the skies by large helium-filled balloons – to the delight of a crowd of Belarus newspaper, radio and television journalists.

Interested and supportive Belarus media

“We wery pleased and surprised to see so many Belarus and Polish journalists present both at the GayBelarus office press conference and at the parade – and the positive response and intelligent questions – and great coverage in the media, ” maintains Bill Schiller, Swedish Radio journalist and international secretary of Tupilak(Nordic rainbow cultural workers). “And we are very happy that our 3-way meeting could be part of Belarus Pride – no doubt one of the most important Prides in Europe today.”

The meeting included country-be-country presentations, seminars and discussions, Swedish film screenings and music provided by well-known Belarus singers and musicians calling for democratic rule in this the last dictatorship in East Europe, as well as a musical and dance-filled performance by members of the internationally-famous Belarus Underground Theater – banned by the regime.

“Our meetings in Kiev and Minsk have been very beneficial and show what our organizations can learn from – and teach each other,” says Olena Shevchenko of the women’s organization Insight of Kiev, who also informed the delegates about the importance of working against the Ukrainian government’s and parliament’s plans to crack down on positive information about homosexuality.

During the visit, the three national delegations also visited the office of the internationally-finance Belarus organization working with men having sex with men and combating HIV and AIDS.

“These meetings have given us new inspiration on how to work in new ways for LGBT rights also using rainbow culture as a weapon against discrimination and phobias – including the discrimination of those with HIV and AIDS,” says Taras L. of the Men’s Alliance – Kiev.

The visit also included displays of art and photo exhibitions from Tupilak and the ILGCN (International queer cultural network) which has works from nearly 40 nations and now has new brand donations from the Ukraine and Belarus.

More Belarus photos and art work on the way “I was very impressed with the international exhibit and will create a special Belarus exhibition at our next event” says journalist/photographer Alexander N., also editor of the biggest LGBT website in Belarus,.

“We are working out plans for long-term Swedish-Belarus-Ukrainian rainbow co-operation – with our next event scheduled for June 1-2, 2012 in the Crimean port of Semiez,” says Slava Bortnik from Belarus Amnesty International and his nation’s second city, Gomel. “Overcoming the isolation of LGBT people in Belarus is crucial for our survival.”

“We hope that the Swedish Institute will continue to provide assistance to make this future human rights and rainbow cultural co-operation possible between East and West,” concludes Bill Schiller, project co-ordinator and also secretary general of the ILGCN Information Secretariat-Stockholm. ……………………………………..

More information: www.tupilak.org and www.ilgcn.tupilak.org

Photos by Elin Nordlinder and Willi Reichhold, Tupilak, Sweden

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Nordic annual mega event in Swedish west coast port

Tupilak at Gothenburg Book & Library Fair September, 2011

Christina Kjellsson

Tupilak participated once again at the Gothenburg Book and Library Fair2011 September 22-25 – the biggest annual cultural event in the Nordic region – at the International Square, both handing out printed material, displaying books and CD’s, meeting the public and presenting form the main stage Tupilak’s work with Eastern European colleagues.

Included in the stage presentation was the Tupilak annual “Sowelu” award presentation to Swedish singer, musician and song writer Christina Kjellsson, who came up to receive her award. She was honored for her year’s-long contribution to the Nordic rainbow cultural scene and for the use of her music via CD’s at Tupilak events at Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European rainbow solidarity events.

Tupilak shared its stand this year with the newly-created Göteborgs Rättighets Center(Gothenburgs Human Rights Center)– including RFSL-Gothenburg, Homan (working with rainbow refugees) and other LGBT organizations. At the stand , art and photography from the Travelling Tupilak & ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network)Art & Photo Exhibition were on display._____________________________________________________________﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

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Kiev: Men´s Alliance

﻿Women's Insight Office, Kiev (photos by Willi Reichhold, Sweden)

﻿﻿﻿﻿Swedish-Ukrainian-Belarus LGBT culture co-operation

TUPILAK VISIT TO KIEV - stage 1 of 3

A Tupilak delegation has recently returned from a September 2-4, 2011meeting with Ukrainian, Belarus and Swedish LGBT activists and cultural workers in Kiev -- a trip made possible thanks to support from the Swedish Institute.

This included performances, art & photo exhibits, films, lively discussions and seminars as well as planning for future rainbow co-operation between the three countries.

Information and photos about the visit to Kiev will be presented at Tupilak's last-Sunday-of the-month cultural afternoon at the Stockolm cultural center, Hallongrottan on October 30 (see below.)

Minsk in October, 2011, Crimea June, 2012

Next stops in this Swedish-Belarus-Ukrainian rainbow solidarity project will be in Minsk October 21-23, 2011 and the Crimea June 1-3, 2012.

torsdag 7 april 2011

Stockholm – Tupilak rainbow cultural delegations have recently been at events in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, the Eskilstuna Spring Pride in this central Swedish city, Göteborgs HBT Festival (Gothenburg ILGCN Festival) in the Swedish west coast port, and the 3rd Baltic Pride in the Estonian capital of Tallinn (rotating each year between this city and the Baltic capitals of Riga and Vilnius).

“We were very pleased with our meetings with Serbian LGBT activists and hope to hold a stage of the ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network) world rainbow cultural conference in Belgrade next year together with contributions from Tupilak,” says ILGCN Information Secretariat-Stockholm general secretary, Bill Schiller.

SPRING PRIDE ESKILSTUNA

In addition to the Tupilak/ILGCN art exhibit, performances and seminars in the Swedish city of Eskilstuna west of Stockholm, a special guest was Polish activist and initiator of Warsaw Pride, Szymon Niemiec – whose visit was made possible thanks to the Polish Institute in Stockholm.

The Eskilstuna event also included the handing over of the ILGCN “Arco Nordica” 2010 award diploma to Spring Pride for promoting rainbow culture and international solidarity – emphasizing that this work is especially courageous and necessary outside of capital cities. The award was shared with Gothenburg LGBT Festival and Uppsala Pride.

Szymon also participated in a Stockholm cultural and church happening and at Tupilak’s last-Sunday-of -the- month session at the award-winning Hallongrottan cultural café in Stockholm, together with Swedish supporters of Palestinian rights and LGBT colleagues in Palestine .

GOTHENBURG LGBT FESTIVAL

Tupilak’s Gothenburg HIV Festival events included seminars (one recorded by Swedish Educational Televsion Broadcasting) on rainbow culture, rainbow history, Nordic co-operation with Eastern Europe and Humanism on the rainbow barricades as well as an unusual “daytime” performance of Tupilak cabaret artist Peter “Bo Peters” Fröberg,” and Concert House “cat” performances of Zafire Vrba and Tomas Woodski.

The Tupilak & ILGCN international travelling art and photo exhibition was displayed during the festival week at the city library with many visitors looking at this and the other exhibitions.

The Tupilak delegation to the Tallinn 3rd Baltic Pride included meetings with local LGBT activists and a visit to one of several Baltic art and photo exhibits in the Estonian capital.

FUTURE TUPILAK EVENTS 2011

Tupilak and the ILGCN will also be participating in the International Square – the week-long solidarity event during the giant political and human rights “Almedalen” week in July in Visby – the capital of the Swedish Baltic island of Gotland. This will also include the historic inauguration of the first LGBT monument in the Nordic area on the sea shore of this Baltic port on July 6th.

Tupilak will host a number of events at the coming Stockholm Pride—some in co-operation with the Polish Institute- Stockholm bringing several high-level Polish cultural personalities and activists to Stockholm – and the inauguration of the Tupilak & ILGCN expanded art and photo international travelling exhibition on August 2 at Teater Tribunal.

At the end of August and in the beginning of September, Tupilak and the ILGCN will participate in the 2nd stage of this year’s ILGCN world cultural conference (1st stage in Istanbul and Ankara in May, 2011) in the Crimean port town of Simeiz as well as a rainbow conference in Kiev and in the Belarus Pride event in Minsk in early September – thanks to support from the Swedish Institute.

Tupilak will also participate again in September’s the Gothenburg Book and Library Fair in this Swedish west coast city September 22-25 – the biggest cultural event in the Nordic region – manning an information booth and providing stage presentations.

Tupilak also plans to return to the Uppsala Pride event in this university city just north of Stockholm in November with more seminars, art exhibitions and performances.

Also on the list is another visit to Poland’s “Poznan LGBT event” in November – with performances, art work, films and seminars.